 On 21 August
1900 during the operations near Van Wyk's Vlei, South Africa, Corporal
Knight and four men were covering the right rear of a detachment of
their company when they were attacked by the enemy. The corporal held
his ground, directing his men to retire one by one to better cover,
where he maintained his position for nearly an hour, covering the
withdrawal of part of their company, and losing two of his four men. He
then retired, taking with him two wounded men, one of whom he left in a
place of safety and the other he carried himself for nearly two miles.
Knight who was later to become a captain was born at just over the
border in Yeovil, Somerset on 5 November 1878, but grew up in Poole. He
died on 24 November 1955, at Winterborne Anderson and was cremated at
Bournemouth Crematorium. His Victoria Cross is on display at
King's Regiment Museum, Liverpool.
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